Like people who have pay school taxes but dont have children, I would assume this is one of those "social contract" deals for the greater good.
Agreed. The low income people get hammered as a proportion of take home pay when there is an increase in fares, so that accounts for the static. Subsidize away...it is efficient. And as for those idiots who drive in from LI or NJ or wherever because they want their freedom, I would be brutal on the I gotta be me tax. You don't like it, move to Oklahoma City...hopefully you have a transportable skill.
Maybe the businesses should pay more to allow their workers that they need to pay the cost of coming to work. Now you're subsidising transportation to provide cheaper labor for the people making six figures. It's a reason, but that doesn't make it a good reason.
What difference does it make? Pay more wages, raise prices across a zillion different concerns unevenly...current practice is more efficient. Not a fan of large government subsidies whatever in general, but this is NYC, scale really matters...maybe governments screw stuff up more often than they should, but rolling out things on such a large scale should be uniform at a minimum...I don't know whether it's the best way, but I've been here 28 years, so it works for me. As for everyone else, they aren't flocking out of the NYC metro area in droves, so I guess it's working for them too?
They are actually attracting more people with "Startup NY." Corruption is benefiting Unions and those that are provided for. Why would they leave?
Efficient as in I'm sure you are all paying the same vs. I am not sure you gazillion workers are all getting paid what you should be. Control leads to efficiency. Government programs are in general not efficient. Stipulated.
In Detroit it busses suburban teens and young adults to the inner city to score heroin.. and thus is dubbed the heroin express. On the return trip it brings inner city criminals to the burbs to purse snatch and car jack. That being said, I'd say 50 percent of the users benefit from it but the bad seems to far out weigh the good. NYC, San Fan and other cities mileage may vary.
I haven't looked at NY's financials, but they should be public info to check for. I would bet $50 to the air fence fund that fares collected don't even come close to providing for 50% of their budgeted expenses. I have worked in public transit for ~10 years now, and the norm is less than 30% of the budget is funded by ridership fares collected. The higher density city, the larger percentage of budget funded by fares, the less dense, the more is funded by subsidies. The last transit agency I worked for was about 33% funded by fares, with the bus side actually able to produce a profit, but para-transit service and the trains ate up all profits and ran on an extreme deficit. The current company I work for runs only buses and para-transit service and is funded ~18% by rider fares, with the rest being subsidized.
They actually aren't THAT bad... considering. Looks like they are at 36.2% funded by rider fares. Wonder what they lump into vehicle toll revenue, and "other revenue"...
Our local transit doesn't come close to break even. They get local and federal subsidies to remain in operation. The riders want more routes and reduced fares. The people covering the costs are not terribly receptive to that idea.
The subsidy actually is dependent on the mode. The MTA has many different parts to it, Commuter Rail, subway, bus. The subway is the least subsidized one, and I believe subway riders pay closer to 60% of the actual expense. http://www.wnyc.org/story/283927-mta-suburban-passengers-get-7-per-ride-subway-riders-a-buck/
Don't forget the ferry boats and water taxis too. In NYC, there really is no option. Building enough additional road surface to handle the additional traffic would be nearly impossible and probably way more expensive than the public transport subsidies.
Back in 2002/2003, I was working on a pipeline route through NYC. I came up with the idea of using existing infrastructure (abandonned tunnels). I was afforded the opportunity to spend some time in NYC (and Long Island). I visited with the City (Engineering Department). I spent about a week looking at maps. The majority were so fragile that I was afraid to turn the pages. I belive that I spend about as much time turning a page as I did examining the drawings depicted. There is a whole city below ground, nearly.
I cant imagine how much of a hole our local bus system digs. Even when the Jags play at home and folks take direct buses to the stadium from all points around the city... they must lose tens of thousands of dollars. The thing that cracks me up is the bike racks on buses. Riders standing there waiting on a bus with a viable bicycle. Maybe they could make additional income towing cars! Maybe I can convince the transit folks to tow my trailer to a race track.
lol... hate to say it but my father benefits from that in a big way. Its like tasking a hetero sexual male to find a "beauty mark" on a supermodel.
We are experimenting with bike racks here in NYC. Since we have started bike share already, it seemed like a weird thing to try to bring out now. But it makes sense after reading up on it; bicycles are not allowed on all crossings, i.e. Verrazano Bridge, and this would be a way for riders to take a bus and bring their bike, and to other areas that are not bike friendly.
Just found this by accident after not being able to find it when this thread was current. https://youtu.be/d3wa0-NZmxA?t=30m10s